It could be the Match of the Millennium: In one corner is
Silicon Valley, lauded for decades as the high-tech capital of the
world. In the other corner: Silicon Alley, a relative newcomer to
the high-tech terrain and an underdog in the struggle for dotcom
dominance (albeit the world leader in just about everything else).
The bell has sounded; the gloves are on! Who will prevail in this
exciting interface-off? And more important, who cares?

In other words, is this so-called rivalry for real, or is it
just a case of a few media types trying to stir up a bit of
dotcommotion? That depends on what you read and who you talk
to.

The tension seemed to reach new levels this past spring, at
least in the media. This was spurred on by a spate of articles by
East Coast journalists from such publications as The New York
Times and Harper's Bazaar, which, upon learning that
the Silicon Valley has 36 percent more men than women, decided to
essentially reduce the region to a mecca for date-challenged
millionaire geeks and the gold-digging women who want their money.
In response, West Coast publications like San Francisco-based Web
site Salon.com questioned the motivation of these East Coast
scribes in perpetuating these pernicious myths. Salon's story
concluded with a theory by San Francisco-based SFGirl.com's
founder, Patty Beron, that "New York is jealous."

But while the media may be doing a lot more bicoastal
mudslinging than muckraking, true denizens of dotcom culture
question whether this coastal clash is all it's cracked up to
be. "I do think it's overplayed in the media," says
Mark Oldman, 31, co-founder of Vault.com, a New York City site that
provides an insider's view of working in a variety of
corporations from coast to coast. Oldman, a Stanford University
graduate, spent 10 years in the Valley before moving back to the
East Coast to start his Alley business. "There really
isn't a Hatfield-McCoy situation between the two coasts,"
he says. "When you work at an Internet company here, there
just isn't much time to care about the cultural differences on
the other side of the country."

Even SFGirl.com's Beron, 33, whose Web site follows the
Internet culture throughout the Bay area and beyond, has second
thoughts about some of her comments in Salon. "I'm not
sure why I said that about New York being jealous," she
admits, trying to recall the context in which she was speaking. At
the time of the interview, she explains, she was primarily annoyed
about the implication that Silicon Valley women are all out looking
for dotcom millionaires, when in truth, many are dotcom
millionaires themselves.

"The main point I was trying to get across was that women
are making lots of money in [San Francisco] and they aren't out
looking for rich guys," she says. "It's so insulting
to say we're out gold-digging and looking for husbands, when
really, we're all thinking 'Forget that! I'm going to
take care of myself and make my own money.'"

Rama Chiruvolu, 27, co-founder of New York City networking site
THESQUARE.com, recently moved to San Francisco to set up an office
on the West Coast. She says that, as a New Yorker, she believed
there was truth to the Silicon Valley gold-digger stereotypes, but
now that she's moved, she's found the image to be false.
She's now one of the women focusing on raking in the millions
herself.

Chiruvolu used to think there was a competition between the two
areas but has found that Valley people don't often think about
the Alley. "When I was in New York, I definitely felt we could
go toe-to-toe with Silicon Valley, but since I've been out
here, I don't even get the sense New York is on the
radar."

That may be the sense in the venture capital arena as well.
According to a survey by Pricewater-houseCoopers, the Alley only
brought in about $2.5 billion in venture capital last year, while
Valley start-ups attracted more than $13.4 billion. Murem Sharpe,
founder of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, start-up strategy incubator
24x2 LLC, points out that Silicon Valley has been a tech center for
decades.

Oldman believes this is starting to change though, particularly
with more VCs, like Redwood City, California, VC firm Draper Fisher
Jurvetson planning to open offices in New York. "Years ago,
there was funding envy," says Oldman. "You'd hear:
'Why don't we [move] to Silicon Valley? All the VCs are
there.' I no longer [hear that]."

Two Cultures

While the rivalry may have been blown out of proportion,
differences between the two cultures do exist. Avoiding
stereotypes, understanding the differences and recognizing the
strengths of start-ups in each area may help you leverage these
distinctions to your advantage. A little cultural sensitivity may
be your key to forming bicoastal relationships with other
businesses that can introduce you to a whole new world of
opportunities.

In pointing out the relative strengths of the different regions,
most entrepreneurs and experts characterize Silicon Valley as a
true technology center, unparalleled in software, hardware and a
host of other computer-oriented innovations. (Think of tech titans
like Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Apple Computer). New
York, on the other hand, excels in content, online advertising,
marketing and e-commerce. (Think DoubleClick, iVillage and the slew
of New York media giants that have put their publications online.)
Janet Stites, publisher and co-founder of AlleyCat News in
Silicon Alley, notes, "There's more of a media flavor here
than a geeky computer flavor."

Distinct Styles of Office Dress

Another oft-mentioned distinction is the relative informality of
the West Coast workplace, in both dress and attitude. "I do
think the [origin] of workplace informality is Silicon
Valley," observes Oldman, alluding to not only the ripped
jeans, shorts and T-shirt ensembles that populate the Silicon
Valley workplace, but also to other symbols of free expression,
like Supersoaker water guns, meeting rooms with quirky names and
odd working hours. "In New York, there still isn't
universal comfort with coming to work in your shorts or working
from 4 p.m. to midnight," Oldman adds.

Sharpe says this issue can sometimes pose problems. She recalls
the time she had to gulp when a vice president of sales from a West
Coast company showed up at an important New York Fortune 500
company to which she was introducing him, wearing "something
just north of a Hawaiian shirt."

Conversely, in West Coast start-ups, the level of informality
may be a way of identifying who holds the power in the company.
"People here have this joke that the person who's the most
casual in the room is the most successful," says Chiruvolu.
"It's the people trying to get there who dress to
impress."

Oldman believes the Alley and Valley embrace two different
styles. Valley techies took Bill Gates style and made it fashion.
Alley techies are more apt to adopt and update a traditional New
York look and attitude. "In the Valley, you have geek
chic," quips Oldman. "In New York, you have chic
geeks."

Other Differences

Work styles and employee expectations may also differ from coast
to coast. In spite of former stereotypes about West Coasters being
more laid back, Chiruvolu was impressed by how quickly West Coast
entrepreneurs work: "New York people work more hours, but West
coast people have a better network and are able to accomplish
more."

At the same time, while Western employees may also move fast and
work long hours, they're also less likely to remain loyal to
their companies, primarily because the competition for technical
staff is far more stiff in the Valley than in the Alley. "The
packages are more aggressive in Silicon Valley because it's a
fierce recruiting environment," says Dimitri Boylan, COO of
HotJobs.com Ltd. in New York City.

Candidates from the two regions are also looking for different
kinds of packages, says Boylan. West Coast candidates are likely to
demand options from companies they assume will make them rich. East
Coast job seekers, on the other hand, are more focused on high
salaries. He says this is partly because people on the West Coast
can see the wealth that such options have brought to many area
residents, which is not as evident in the East.

Fitting the Lifestyle

While the dotcom industry in Silicon Alley may be in its nascent
stages, it's growing fast. Another Pricewaterhouse-Coopers
survey shows that new media businesses in the New York City metro
area have increased by 75 percent since 1997, with most of these
focusing on content, development and e-commerce. And while much has
been made of tech talent flocking to the West Coast in search of
power and riches, the survey shows that 20 percent of respondents
moved to New York from other locations. Many of these hailed from
high-tech areas, with 17 percent of relocating respondents coming
from Silicon Valley.

Still, most dotcommers you talk to from either coast will tell
you they like where they are and aren't planning to move.
"I think the press likes to talk about [envy], but no one
really cares," says Stites. "People who live in New York
really like living here, and I'm sure people who live in San
Francisco like living there. You've got two cities that are
very expensive to live in; if you weren't happy living in
either one, you probably wouldn't make the sacrifices to live
there."